Remember Saro-Wiwa.

Big Oil and High Art meet London cultures of resistance on the eve of the tenth anniversary of the execution of the Ken Saro-Wiwa and compatriots

The 10th Anniversary of the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa on November 10th 2005 .
Despite facts that tie Shell to the executions and to the continuing abuse of the Ogoni people, Shell still denies culpability. Shell is still drilling for oil in Nigeria with more of it going to the United States than anywhere else. In October 2005 Shell posted record profits of $9 billion dollars for the quarter. It is still drilling in Oman and Nigeria, and causing environmental havoc with it's Sakhalin II project and activites in County Mayo, Ireland.

Like BP, Shell has intensified its Greenwash ( spin ) campaign to try and convince the gullible that they are a caring 'green' company and not just full of wind.

On the eve of the 10th anniversary of this execution, activists from London Rising Tide, Rhythms of Resistance, Rossport Solidarity Camp and London Earth First! came together to take action against Shell for its activities in Nigeria, in Ireland and worldwide.

Nine nooses were hung from lampposts directly in front of Shell’s UK headquarters on London’s South Bank. A pipeline decorated with slogans celebrating resistance to the curse of oil in the Niger Delta and in County Mayo in the past and right now were also on site, as were banners and a small but noisy samba band.

Also part of the picture was the situation in County Mayo, north west Ireland, which is the proposed site of a major new Shell gas development, currently being opposed energetically both locally and internationally: http://www.corribsos.com

The action was also in direct opposition to the new law designed to clamp
down on protest in central London: www.freedomtoprotest.org.uk

Shell is also currently laundering its tarnished reputation by sponsoring the Rubens exhibition at the National Gallery, so the group made an unwelcome (to the gallery at least) visit there later in the day; www.artnotoil.org.uk

The following day saw the culmination of the art/activism project
Remember Saro-Wiwa: www.remembersarowiwa.com, as well as actions and commemorations all around the world: www.november10.org

"Shell is here on trial and it is as well that it is represented by counsel said to be holding a watching brief. The Company has, indeed, ducked this particular trial, but its day will surely come and the lessons learnt here may prove useful to it for there is no doubt in my mind that the ecological war that the Company has waged in the Delta will be called to question sooner than later and the crimes of that war be duly punished. The crime of the Company's dirty wars against the Ogoni people will also be punshed." Ken Saro-Wiwa -Closing Statement to the Nigerian Military appointed tribunal

Some green groups wish to work with these companies when they have got away with crimes all over the planet, the oil industry leaving its trail of murder, rape, environmental destruction, corrpution, and war. This legacy is not mentioned in these companies advertising campaigns that focus on their wind energy schemes which only account for a tiny portion of their business.

Once the oil runs out these bastards want to be in control profiting from sun, wind and rain. This beggars belief. What is necessary is SOCIAL CHANGE - not CLIMATE CHANGE. This is not achieved through market forces controlled by transnational corporations. Already people suffer from the effects of the Carbon Markets in Brazil and Durban to name 2 particularly nasty examples.

At it's very basic level this is about greed and control of the land. Corporations with help from their well paid political puppets e.g Jonathon Poritt will not wish to relinquish control.